NEW DELHI,21 Jan 2026 : Nitin Nabin took charge as the BJP’s new National President Tuesday morning – 24 hours ago – and is already at work. The first decisions included appointing the party’s in-charge and co-in-charge for the Kerala Assembly election later this year, as also some local body polls.
And Wednesday morning he kickstarted a day-long meeting with the senior leaders from the BJP’s state units, including its presidents, and the party’s organisational general secretaries.
Nabin, sources said, could continue as a Bihar MLA for the foreseeable future because the party does not want to snap that connection with the eastern state.
But the big question is this – will Nabin participate in the Bihar Assembly’s budget session, which begins February 2. The question arises because even though he has resigned from Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s cabinet – he was the state’s Roadways Minister – he remains an MLA.
Nabin is a five-time Bihar lawmaker with four consecutive terms from the Bankipur seat.
And as long as he remains a Member of Bihar’s Legislative Assembly, he must participate in House proceedings, a dual role that might not fit into an increasingly busy schedule.
But that schedule can be adjusted by bringing Nabin into the Rajya Sabha, which means he can be based in Delhi; Nabin’s predecessor, JP Nadda, was similarly inducted into Parliament.
Also on the immediate agenda is a visit to poll-bound Bengal, which is widely seen as the biggest, and potentially most difficult, electoral battle the BJP has faced in recent years, given the hat-trick of federal and Assembly election defeats to Trinamool boss Mamata Banerjee.
Nabin as a MP?
This could happen as early as April. Five Rajya Sabha seats from Bihar fall vacant then and the numbers guarantee two of those for the BJP. Two more will go to Nitish Kumar’s JDU.
In fact, if the BJP wishes to push, then it could also pick up the fifth.
And, even if a nomination via Bihar is not possible, there are 30 other Rajya Sabha seats that fall vacant this year, a majority of which is guaranteed to the BJP. This means Nabin – the youngest National President in the BJP’s history – could represent another state in the Upper House. But top BJP sources said this might not be the case.
Amit Shah parallel
Nabin, sources said, could continue as a Bihar MLA for the foreseeable future because the party does not want to snap that connection with the eastern state. There is precedence for this.
In 2013 Amit Shah was made the National General Secretary of the BJP and then, the following year, appointed its National President. Back then he was still a MLA – he had won Gujarat’s Naranpura seat by a massive margin – and so he remained a state lawmaker too, participating in Gujarat Assembly several times. It wasn’t till 2017 when he was brought into the Rajya Sabha.
And in 2019 he was elected to the Lok Sabha from Gandhinagar.
Political analysts, however, suggest the case isn’t the same.
Shah remained an MLA so he could track the BJP’s organisational strength in Gujarat.
This was necessary then because the party’s state unit was in transition after the stunning 2014 Lok Sabha win that catapulted Narendra Modi and Shah to Delhi. And the latter’s presence was still required in Gujarat to ensure victory in the 2017 Assembly election. But that way Bihar is safe.
